Omachuck: Blog

I checked in 1st thing this morning to see almost 1500 downloads and a rating consistent with the first chapter of my previous stories. Thank you very much for your taking time to rate the story. Please update your score as the story progresses.

Chapter 2 Travelin’ Man posts on Sunday (tomorrow) morning. T'Bwinkel and the wacky AI of the stagecoach Pink Panther arrive at the Harrad Colony.

Future chapters are queued to post mornings on Tuesdays, Thursdays,Fridays, and Sundays until the final post on the American Labor Day.

As I reviewed the statistics for my earlier stories, THE Harem Tales 5: Inkie doesn't have nearly as many downloads as I would have expected as it is one of my highest rated stories. Many of you have noted that my stories, for the most part, build one upon the other, Inkie explains the beginnings of the Tu'ull becoming active allies/partners in stopping the Sa'arm incursion.

Someone asked about reading order. I went onto my page and sorted all the stories into a suggested reading order - except that The Beard is at the top. Non Swarm Cycle stories are at the bottom, and sorted into their reading order.

The submission wizard has changed enough since my last story that I managed to mess it up. I've messaged the powers-that-be to see if i can get the start of The Beard posted now.

Hello All -

I'm back, finally, really. Some of you know that I fell while touring in the Galapagos Islands (October 2021) and fractured three cervical vertebrae - broke my frigging neck... So December 2021 I had a cage put in front of my spine, In the Spring 2022 I had elbow and wrist surgery to repair damage from the fall, and in June had a plate put in the back of my neck to fully stabilize my spine. All done, right? Nope, in January 2023 I developed a subdural hematoma, and had to have 2 holes drilled in my hard head to drain the excess blood pressing on my brain. I'm mostly good now - left arm/hand is still a little wonky and painful from residual nerve damage. With PT and time, there's improvement to the point I am now physically able and mostly mentally able to concentrate to resume writing and proof reading.

Sob story over. 78-years old and otherwise healthy and kicking.

My initial ideas for The Beard popped into my head in October of 2019, but I stopped any significant work after the June 2022 surgery - My ability to concentrate was shot to hell. This spring I resumed work and have incorporated the ideas and addressed concerns from the Swarm authors group’s earlier feedback. The story has a LOT of elements that create entirely new canon, and provides canon that addresses/explains stuff in older stories that seems to violate canon going way back.

So The Beard’s eleven chapters are finished and proofed and will start uploading Friday morning 8/16/2024. Most of the characters first appear in Caleb and Cheval Jaune and reading/rereading is highly advised. I’m working on a character list that could be appended at the end, but that is not in shape yet. If you’ve recently read Caleb and Cheval Jaune, you shouldn’t need it. As always feedback is welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!

As a side note, I think this will be my last Swarm story for a while. I have some ideas for the Damsels in Distress universe that I want to explore.

Some Swarm Authors use Dropbox to store our stories and post them for proofing. At some point I will be taking over administration and was reviewing author folders. I discovered a late version of Lordshipmayhem's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I contacted Laz and he graciously agreed to post the final chapters.

A few years before Gary passed away, he told us that it was the battle scenes that he needed to finish. I'm not sure this would have been the final final version, but it hangs together. Gary and his fans deserve this conclusion.

If you haven't read R&G recently, I highly recommend that you start from the beginning. If you haven't read it at all, well...

Enjoy! Mike

I was a proof reader for Magic 101. Send me a note with contact info. I'll help.

Mike